The invention describes a parameterizable mechanism for the selection of support systems and administrative systems or of desired communication partners using name resolution mechanisms in the context of communication links.
Initially, as a starting point, the state of the art is described in order to then, building on this, explain the key and additional features of the invention.
Usually, several further support systems and administrative systems are involved in line with the processing and administration between communication systems or between communication systems and networks. Thus, before a communication connection can be established, the needed support systems and administrative systems must be found or selected in order to establish a communications address. Furthermore, if necessary (depending of the communication scenario), the desired communication partner is to be automatically chosen or found. In order to be able to discuss both cases generally, the term “remote station” is used equivalently to the terms “support system” and “administrative system” or the term “communication partner”.
In the case that several equivalent remote stations are respectively available, there is a request for    (a) a more suitable selection mechanism considering the appropriate parameters and    (b) in connection with this, a mechanism to establish the communication address of the remote station which was selected in step (a).
In many communication networks, the latter (the establishing of the communications address of a system), is based on name resolution mechanisms that map the abstract logical name of a remote station's communication partner onto its actual communication address.